Fr. Anthony was born in New York, but his family
moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where his parents (Tony and Rosemarie)
and sister still live. Every Sunday they participated in the
Eucharistic Celebration at St Maria Goretti Parish, in the Dioceses
of Phoenix. He was confirmed when he was 19 years
old and started teaching catechism to a youth group in
his parish.

“It was in this way that I
started to grow in love for souls and enjoy doing
apostolate,” Fr. Anthony said.

Fr. Anthony attended Chaparral High School, Scottsdale.
He played soccer and worked in several outreach club projects.
He also supported a parish-based youth group.

After several semesters
studying architecture and arts at Arizona State University, in 1994
he left everything to enter the novitiate and start his
ecclesial studies.

“When God called me,” Fr. Anthony said, “I
started sweating and getting nervous, but I reached the conclusion
that God only wanted the best for me and if
He was calling me to the priesthood, it would be
for my greater happiness and His greater happiness; and that’s
what happened: I am the happiest man in the world.”

Fr.
Anthony studied philosophy and theology at the Atheneum Regina Apostolorum
in Rome. The years he dedicated to study where: “intense
but went by very fast, because you always want to
prepare yourself more to be able to serve better”.

In
addition to his studies of philosophy and theology, he dedicated
three years to vocation work in Córdoba, Argentina, and three
years as a seminary instructor.

His parents, who accompany him
in Rome for his priestly ordination, are Tony and Rosemarie
Sortino.